Month: July 2023

Originally published on TriplePundit

While many companies today seek to align their operations with the imperatives of strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, some firms put the ESG stake in the ground long ago. One of these is renewable energy giant Ørsted.

It was a surprising turn of events back in 2009 when Ørsted, formerly Dong Energy, was a thriving business almost entirely dependent on oil, gas and coal. The company began transitioning to renewable energy in 2010 and has since gone from being one of the most coal-dependent companies in Europe to transitioning its portfolio almost entirely to renewables.

Multiple pressures converge to change the trajectory of a company

The story of how that happened is one of multiple pressures, Ida Krabek, senior director and head of sustainability at Ørsted, told TriplePundit. “We could see the whole momentum around the climate building up and that our legacy business was under pressure. Our top management recognized that the future of energy was renewable energy and that to maintain a profitable business, we had to reconsider how we made our money,” Krabek said.

“There was also civil society pressure, including environmental protests against a new coal-fired power plant we were planning in Germany. And there was regulatory pressure, as the European Union began to launch regulation to tackle climate change,” she continued. “All of this was a very clear sign that the context we were operating under was changing.”

Toward a new kind of energy system

Today, Ørsted’s vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. The company develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, and bioenergy plants. Ørsted is recognized on the CDP Climate A List as a global leader in climate action and was the first energy company in the world to have its net-zero emissions target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The company has set ambitious targets, including reaching net-zero across the value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) and a 90 percent reduction in absolute emissions (Scope 3, from gas sales) by 2040. In the shorter term, the company is looking to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 98 percent by 2025, using a 2006 baseline.

Though net-zero by 2040 may seem a tall order for an energy company, Krabek said the company is on track to meet the target. This is even in light of the Danish government ordering the company to postpone the shutdown of three coal units last year to help guarantee the country’s energy security.

“This has not been an easy journey,” Krabek told us. “It has required that we set a long-term vision for the company and stick to it to build the internal momentum and to have a suite of actions year on year that bring us in the right direction.”

Buy-in from C-level has been a consistent factor. “Our CEO and top management have stayed firm in the belief that this was the right direction for the company, and that has helped to build organizational focus and support over the years,” she added.

Embedding sustainability into governance structures

Another integral part of the company’s journey was ensuring that ESG objectives were integrated into corporate governance. Ørsted is working to ensure sustainability is embedded across all relevant parts of its operating model so that, as the company describes it in its 2022 Sustainability Report, “every colleague, every decision and every business development pull toward the same ambition.”

The company has three interrelated strategic pillars to ensure sustainability is integrated: decision-making and accountability; competencies and governance; and culture and leadership.

“Concern for the climate and the build of renewable energy has been core to our business strategy for more than a decade, so it has naturally been built into our governance structure,” Krabek said. “Our board has oversight, and we have top management who are familiar with taking decisions linked to ESG where the business case is often a bit different and more long-term than the traditional business case.”

ESG is now part of short-term incentive remuneration

In 2022, Ørsted strengthened ESG criteria in its executive team’s short-term incentive remuneration scheme, giving them the same weight as financial KPIs. “It’s not salary alone that incentivizes an organization,” Krabek said, “but it is a very important tool in showing what we value as an organization.”

This level of accountability is one very effective aspect of the company’s approach to governance for sustainability. Another is transparency. In addition to its annual Sustainability Report, Ørsted publishes an ESG Performance Report and each year includes more sustainability information in its Annual Report to investors. Additionally, the company published a Green Bond Impact Report in 2022.

On the data side, the company’s chief financial officer heads its Sustainability Committee and not only has strategic responsibility for sustainability, but is also responsible for ensuring the quality of the company’s ESG data, Krabek explained. 
“I think it’s extremely important that your organization and your top management trust the data that you have available in this space because then you understand the problem better, and it’s also easier to make decisions on what to do next,” she said.

The next frontier: Decarbonizing the value chain

To positively impact the global challenge of climate change, Ørsted leaders recognize the company must look further than its own business. “For us, the next frontier is about making sure that our entire value chain footprint is net zero,” Krabek said. “As a growth business, that means decoupling growth from supply chain emissions. That is the next big challenge.”

Ørsted’s broader vision is to help the world’s energy systems move toward decarbonization — including more challenging sectors such as steel, concrete and shipping — while contributing to biodiversity rather than adding to massive biodiversity loss. The company has committed to net-positive biodiversity impact from all new renewable energy projects commissioned from 2030 at the latest.

The company also embraces the “S” or social impact in ESG in that it has a responsibility to contribute to a just transition to sustainable energy systems while protecting human rights.

“We want to be part of managing the impacts of the green transition in a way that makes it a force for positive change, because it is really a large-scale societal transformation that we will have to go through over the next decade,” Krabek said.

Because sustainability challenges are a moving target, every year Ørsted conducts a sustainability themes analysis to identify, assess, and prioritize the themes that matter to its stakeholders and business. The five issues that emerged in last’s assessment were carbon emissions from renewable energy supply chains, biodiversity and local ecosystems, reusing, recycling and avoiding waste,, communities, and human and labor rights.

“While we want to play a leading role, it’s really an industry ambition that we cannot solve on our own. It requires dialogue with our suppliers and other stakeholders,” Krabek concluded. “Active collaboration is key.”

This article series is sponsored by Workiva and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Originally published on HARMAN Newsroom

At HARMAN, our workforce reflects the diversity of the world in which we operate and the communities we serve. We are committed to making every employee feel welcomed, valued, and empowered to bring their best selves to the workplace. People from all walks of life come to work at HARMAN to bring their creative ideas to the table, and in doing so, foster the innovations that our customers, partners and consumers have come to know and love.

In the continuing spirit of embracing diversity and fostering a culture of inclusion, HARMAN proudly joined the LGBTQ+ community in commemorating Pride Month this June. As an organization committed to equality and respect for all, we recognize the importance of creating an inclusive workplace where employees feel safe – psychologically, physically, and emotionally – and celebrated for their authentic selves.

The first Pride marches were held in June 1970 in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Since then, Pride Month has expanded to include a variety of educational and celebratory activities around the globe. This year, HARMAN employees participated in local parades, educational workshops, and other community outreach events, to explore what it means to be an ally and foster an atmosphere of support and solidarity.

Throughout the year, our HARMAN Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) works to create and maintain a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for all HARMAN employees. This month, our Pride ERG, in partnership with our DE&I Executive Council, organized a series of in-person and virtual events, including:

A fireside chat with Jen Croneberger, Founder of the HUMAN Leadership Institute, on “Validating Identity and Visibility for the LGBTQ+ Community (And How to Provide a Supportive Work Environment)”A panel discussion focused on supporting and celebrating families with LGBTQ+ membersA presentation on the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, its significance on the history of Pride MonthParticipation in community events like Motor City Pride in Detroit, MI and Pride Munich, where our teams and community members celebrated with an ice cream event at our JBL store which raised funds for the Munich Rainbow Foundation.On-demand and individual diversity training programs as well as local and regional roundtable sessions held at our offices in Hungary, Poland, Romania, and more that emphasized the importance of authentic allyship and understanding

HARMAN remains committed to creating an inclusive culture that empowers and supports everyone, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. While we celebrate the progress we have made, we know that we must still continue our journey towards a more inclusive and equitable future for all. To learn more about our dedication to DE&I, visit: https://www.harman.com/career/diversity

Originally published in SEE’s Global Impact Report

Laura Nenning Tucker is the Vice President of Global Total Rewards at SEE® (formerly Sealed Air). Passionate about making meaningful connections, she is focused on improving our people experience through programs that motivate, attract, and reward employees as well as drive positive engagement that fuels business transformation.

How does our work connect with our purpose to protect, to solve critical packaging challenges, and to make our world better than we find it? 

Our people want to be impactful, and we cannot deliver on our purpose and vision without them. It is important that we cultivate a strong sense of purpose and that every one of us understands how we are contributing in a tangible and real way. Our people want to know how they connect to the broader success of the company and the positive impact we have on society, and that we recognize their contributions to that success.

Heroes work here. Through the most challenging times with global supply chains and business disruptions, our people play a key role when it comes to customers, consumers, and communities having access to the most essential goods. We solve some truly complex challenges. Making that connection between our people and the impact we have comes from strong leadership and managers who instill a sense of belonging and pride in the difference we are making.

Why are digital technologies important to SEE’s people and culture?

We are bringing people together to create a future that is more digitally connected. Through digital platforms, we are ramping up our efforts to retain, attract, and motivate people who want to be a part of a transformation that goes beyond traditional organizational principles and practices. We believe digital connections will positively impact our people and how they work. The digital solutions we provide our customers will impact their businesses and their people as well. We’re implementing digital technology and using data-driven insights to develop meaningful programs, train our team, and develop future leaders—all with the intent of positively shaping our culture to drive better employee engagement.

How does SEE’s culture differ from other companies?

We are not a just a workplace, we are a community of people who are passionate about the business and the impact we can make. Everyone’s individual perspectives are valued here. My father worked at SEE for 38 years in various roles. Like him, I see the opportunity for my career to grow here and just recently transitioned from the legal team to the people team. And, I am not the only second generation employee at SEE. There have been many of us over the years in all facets of the business from manufacturing to the sales organization. Many people who join SEE quickly learn how their talents and insights can influence the company in myriad ways. SEE provides opportunities for each employee to be an owner in the company’s collective success. It’s a place where people are driven by a desire to make our world better.

How is our people transformation fueling our business transformation? 

We’re building a purpose-driven culture at SEE. So much of what defines how we work, including how we work together and how we consistently deliver for our customers, is the unifying purpose that we are all working towards: to make our world better than we find it. This is intentional. We are moving toward this goal in different, but meaningful ways. We are fostering a culture of continuous innovation that prioritizes sustainability. We are ensuring our people are included in our strategy. And we are making sure everyone feels like they belong at SEE by valuing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Read SEE’s Global Impact Report here.

Learn more about SEE’s ESG efforts here.

From human rights to deforestation, businesses are increasingly expected to demonstrate that they have taken reasonable steps to address sustainability risks within their supply chains. And as new legislation and international frameworks demand further corporate due diligence, voluntary sustainability standards and similar systems have an important role to play.

ISEAL has recognised this in its draft Code of Good Practice, which provides a global reference for credible, effective sustainability systems. The revised Code aims to help these schemes put in place the processes they need, including to support, facilitate and strengthen due diligence processes.

While voluntary standards and other third-party sustainability systems are not a substitute for corporate due diligence, they provide useful tools to support effective, fair and impactful due diligence processes. Credible systems offer reliable data and information on supply chains, and can support companies in areas such as identifying risks, defining mitigation and improvement pathways, developing grievance and remediation processes, and improving inclusion of smallholders, SMEs and other stakeholders.

Sustainability systems can support companies that want to go beyond mandatory minimum standards. They provide a common framework that supports collective action and promotes sector-wide consistency and transparency.

In addition, sustainability systems must implement responsible business conduct within their own operations in order to achieve integrity and credibility.

The revised Code – which updates and integrates ISEAL’s existing Codes of Good Practice on Assurance, Impacts and Standard-Setting – addresses due diligence in a number of areas. Several clauses make direct reference to due diligence, and defining due diligence responsibilities is positioned as a key part of strategy development.

ISEAL’s Executive Director Karin Kreider said: “Through the revised Code of Good Practice, we want to make sure sustainability systems can help businesses to meet their due diligence responsibilities and other sustainability challenges within their supply chains. We’re keen to hear your views on the revised Code to ensure it meets your needs.”

Businesses and other interested stakeholders are invited to have their say by taking part in the consultation, which is open until 30 July. Find out how you can get involved by visiting https://www.isealalliance.org/iseal-code-consultation.